Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

9724 words

Chapter 1

Leon Vance watched as Officer Ziva David walked quickly out of the courtyard without looking back once. Vance’s attention went to Senior Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo, wobbly and certainly in pain getting up from the tumble he took from Ziva’s actions. Leon had been surprised when he’d reached the entrance to the courtyard and seen the Mossad liaison advancing on the banged-up NCIS agent. Vance certainly didn’t expect the direct attack, and DiNozzo seemed surprised but also accepting of the action, like he knew Ziva would do something at some point.

The whole situation was clusterfuck, reaching FUBAR levels. Vance was angry with DiNozzo for meddling and ending up killing the Kidon agent, even if the guy was gallivanting around the United States doing whatever Mossad wanted behind the American government’s back. Leon Vance knew that the Israeli’s actions were not kosher, but he also believed the man was doing them all a favour, eliminating dangerous people that the American system would not allow them to touch. The death of the Homeland agent was a pity, but nothing they could do about it after the fact. Leon was grateful to Eli David for all the help he got at the beginning of his career and saw nothing wrong with a bit of quid-pro-quo that also helped America.

Giving DiNozzo on a plate to David wasn’t a problem in his mind. The guy would get a deserved thumping, Mossad would feel better about the whole thing, and Vance would have a good excuse to put the annoying man far away from the MCRT and DC without Gibbs whingeing in his ear about needing his SFA. Gibbs would certainly be too busy consoling Ziva David to worry about Tony DiNozzo.

But again, the aggravating agent had to turn everything on its head. ‘How does he do it?’ Vance couldn’t understand how a frat boy, barely competent ex-cop was able to turn the table on Mossad Director Eli David and make the man confess all his plans in relation to NCIS.

Vance was surprised that the whole thing with Haswari was pretty much planned from the start and Ziva was all in. ‘That should have hurt Gibbs’, Leon thought with some schadenfreude. The big bad Marine agent was played by a slip of woman. Leon remembered the scene during the interrogation and the look on DiNozzo’s face. ‘The man knew!’ The glint in his eyes at Eli’s confirmation was clear. Then the SFA had kept pushing and Director David had played right along, saying the whole Rivkin affair was to make sure that Ziva was still under her father’s control. Ziva’s reaction to that little bit of commentary had been telling, too.

Leon sighed and moved towards the driveway at the entrance of the Mossad office building. That was where Ziva had walked to, and Gibbs was probably there waiting for all of them to pick up their ride and go back to the airport for the military flight waiting to take them back to DC. While walking at a clip to reach his MCRT team leader and the Mossad liaison, Leon saw someone approach DiNozzo and help the agent get steady on his feet. The Director considered for a moment if he should talk with the SFA but in the grand scheme of things DiNozzo was quite far down his list of priorities.

“…cannot work with him, Gibbs!” Ziva’s voice reached Vance before he even saw the other two agents.

“Ziver, we’ll…” By the quiet tone of voice, the man was trying to appease the young woman.

“No! You have to choose! I will not be in the same team as him anymore!” Ziva actually stomped her foot to accompany the declaration, mirroring the behaviour of Abby Sciuto to a T.

Gibbs’ face closed off and Vance sped up to avoid the storm forming on the Marine’s visage. He knew that it was never good to give that old grouch an ultimatum. Leon had learned that one the hard way.

“Gibbs, Ziva,” the Director interrupted whatever the senior agent might have thought of responding. “Let’s get in the car. DiNozzo should come along soon, and we’d better be on the tarmac soon, so we won’t lose our ride.”

Ziva turned to the other man, her angry expression twisting her face enough to disguise she could ever be an attractive woman.

“I will not work with DiNozzo ever again, Director!” she stated, avoiding the stomping this time thankfully, so Vance didn’t need to be reminded of Sciuto or his own teenage daughter.

“I understand and agree, Officer David,” Leon responded, trying to re-assert his position. “I’m considering the options, and I’ll have a solution soon, but I do prefer to discuss NCIS business back in DC”.

“Leon,” Gibbs started with a warning in his tone.

“Gibbs,” Vance sighed loudly. “We are all tired and stressed out. Let’s go back home, take a few days to decompress and discuss how to go forward with clear heads.”

“You could just throw him in the desert right here,” Ziva spewed full of venom.

“Ziva!” Gibbs reprimanded.

“As tempting as the idea is, Officer David, I have to report back to SecNav, and losing another American agent so carelessly would not go down well, after all that happened,” Vance retorted acidly.

Ziva humpfed, turned her back to the two men and marched towards the car, going for the back seat. The Marine holding the door open avoided looking at her at all, keeping his eyes front and centre, a tight hold on the door handle. Ziva slid over the back seat and turned her back to the open door, eyes on the window, ignoring everyone else around the car.

“That’s not gonna go down well, Leon,” Gibbs said quietly, eyes on the open car door. “You’ve already thrown him to the wolves by bringing him here.”

“I have a possible solution, Gibbs,” Vance stated, starting to move towards the car. “Like I said, we need some days to rest and then we sort everything out.”

Gibbs started walking behind the director, a heavier step than he normally used. “I don’t like ultimatums… In the end, DiNozzo acquitted himself very well.”

“I know,” Leon agreed without turning to the surprise of the agent. “But there’s more to consider in this situation, more even than when we came here.”

“You thought you would get rid of DiNozzo,” Gibbs threw the comment out.

“It doesn’t matter what I thought before,” Vance declared, moving to enter the car through the door the Marine was still holding open. “I have to consider what to do going forward.”

Gibbs nodded, a bit lost in his own thoughts and followed the Director into the car. The Marine closed the back door and moved to open the passenger side of the car when he saw Agent DiNozzo hobbling towards them, followed by a Mossad agent a few steps behind him.

The SFA entered the car carefully, holding back a few moans and trying to find a comfortable position. The Marine hurried to get to the driver’s seat and nodded quietly to the Mossad agent watching the group depart; he let out a soft sigh, shoulders hunching under the tension that filled the car. He just wanted to get to the plane and be sure to sit far away from this bunch.

The flight back to DC was as uncomfortable as the one to Israel. Ziva would swing between sadness and anger, letting Gibbs hold her when sadness was at its peak, and turning a hateful gaze towards DiNozzo whenever her anger swelled up. Vance sat quietly, eyes closed but mind running wild with options and possibilities to deal with the whole situation. Gibbs was also see-sawing between trying to console a grieving Ziva and wrestling with his anger and disbelief about what Eli David said during DiNozzo’s interrogation and Ziva’s ultimatum. DiNozzo sat as far away from the rest of the NCIS group as the airplane allowed. He couldn’t sleep or relax, his collarbone hurting like hell, his back and leg pulsing with pain after Ziva swiped him to the floor. He was grimly happy at being able to get Eli David’s admission of all his meddling but acutely aware that it might not help his overall position in the end. And the advice he received from Amit Hadar kept rolling around his head.

“You should accept any move your director offers you, Agent. You would not be safe around Ziva David,” the man had whispered in his ear while helping him back onto his feet.

The tension didn’t leave the group that landed in DC in the early morning, with barely any sun showing up to welcome them. Ziva kept close to Gibbs, DiNozzo again as far away as possible while still being able to hear Vance’s orders.

“Everybody takes the rest of the week to rest. We’ll talk Monday,” Vance stated. “DiNozzo, I’ll see you around 8am, in my office.”

Tony nodded and turned to leave, walking slowly and with a visible limp.

“Gibbs, your whole team is on leave until Monday. I’ll let Balboa and Dispatch know,” Vance turned to the older agent, ignoring the sour face of the man. He knew Gibbs didn’t like it when he ordered the MCRT around but now was not the time for a dick measuring contest. “Officer David, I understand that you lost your apartment…”

“Ziva will stay with me until everything is sorted,” Gibbs declared loudly, cutting the rest of the comment from the director.

Vance raised an eyebrow on the decision and saw the retreating back of DiNozzo hunching even more. That was a clear declaration of which side Gibbs was taking and the satisfied smile on Ziva’s face showed she recognized it too.

“Very well,” Leon agreed, the decision he was mulling over for the MCRT cementing under the lead agent attitude. “I’ll see you Monday morning, after I talk with DiNozzo then,” he completed, nodding towards the duo and turning to leave, his NCIS issued car and driver waiting for him close by.

While they drove carefully out of the military runaway, Vance saw DiNozzo huddled in a corner of the reception building, his mobile in hand, probably trying to sort out transport back home. The driver slowed even more, like waiting for Vance to say something, but when they crossed the gate without the director ordering him to stop or suggesting they offer the SFA a lift, the man in front sighed loudly and sped up to enter normal traffic.

Vance felt moderately ashamed for not offering to take DiNozzo home, especially after seeing Gibbs’s car zooming past with a smarmy, satisfied Ziva in the passenger seat. But Leon believed DiNozzo would refuse any help he might offer, just on principle. It was the director's turn to sigh and lay back in the comfortable seat. He would go home, take a bath, eat something and maybe take a nap. Then he would make sure his option to sort out the MCRT was still viable. Vance closed his eyes and let go of the worries for a moment, while he was driven home.

*WADC*

The conversation Monday morning with DiNozzo went better than Vance expected. He thought the SFA would whinge about being moved out of the MCRT considering his attitude during his stint as agent afloat and the gloating he seemed to do when Vance acceded to Gibbs and brought the man back to DC.

The DiNozzo seated in front of the director’s desk was quieter and seemed more mature than Leon had ever seen before from the SFA. No quips, jokes or even sarcastic comments. Tony DiNozzo listened quietly to his offer to lead a mobile RU. It was related to a mixed military programme spearheaded by the Air Force but with plenty of Marines working protecting civilian scientists that seemed to move around the country a lot. The position, despite the title that would give DiNozzo, could accurately be defined as an agent afloat service, just on shore, in Vance’s view, and it was a request from NCIS’s previous director, Tom Morrow, who was now Assistant Director of Special Projects at Homeland Security.

When Vance had received the request just before the whole Rivkin affair exploded, he was unsure if he would offer any agent the position. It looked like a no prospects kind of job and the only agent he wished such a thing on was DiNozzo, but Gibbs seemed set in his way to keep the young man on his team. Then Rivkin happened, Ziva went ballistic with the death of her lover and Eli David asked for DiNozzo’s head on a plate. Vance thought he would get rid of the annoying man then and there and had completely forgotten Morrow’s request until the doomed interrogation at Mossad office. He knew Eli had plans within plans and wasn’t too picky about them as long as they didn’t affect his life, job or country. What DiNozzo made Eli confess to, though, gave Vance some leeway and some leverage, especially over Gibbs. Morrow’s request came back to him while he watched Ziva drop DiNozzo and clearly threaten him at the courtyard of Mossad Office.

“I need someone flexible, who can deal with military and civilian alike, Leon,” Morrow had said on the phone, what seemed so long ago. “Someone like DiNozzo, with his out of the box thinking would be perfect, really. I know Gunny won’t let his star investigator go, though.”

Vance had humpfed then, never understanding what people saw in DiNozzo, but now, after the impressive turnabout during Eli’s interrogation, maybe there was something about the man after all. If he gave DiNozzo the position in Morrow’s project, Leon would have two people in debt to him, since DiNozzo would not want to stay around Ziva after that, and Gibbs was clearly in papa bear mode with the Israeli woman. It looked like everything would work out in the end and Vance was glad to envision his problems dissolving away.

Now he was getting up from his chair and motioning to DiNozzo to follow him back down to the bullpen. The agent had accepted the move with a quick nod and quiet “Yes, Director,” to Vance's question if he was interested in the position. The two men moved out of the office, with DiNozzo giving Cynthia, his secretary, a nod and a small smile that the woman answered back with a heartfelt “Good luck, Agent DiNozzo,” while giving him the folder with the details of the new position and his transfer.

Leon was keen to have the move resolved as quickly as possible, so he was taking DiNozzo down to the bullpen to pick up his stuff and go directly to HR to sign off the details of the new position. He had hoped Gibbs would be on one of his coffees runs and he could leave the whole announcement of the changes in the MCRT to a general email instead of having a confrontation with the Marine, but it seemed his luck had finally run out and the rest of the team was milling around their desks, together with Abby Sciuto and Doctor Mallard. Only the medical examiner’s assistant, Palmer, was missing from the normal Gibbs’ entourage. In fact, the bullpen was full, with Balboa and Peterson’s teams sitting at their desks, going through paperwork. Vance sighed quietly, not seeing a way out of the collision he was sure Gibbs would instigate.

DiNozzo went to his desk, sat down and started picking up stuff from his draws, working with only one arm, as his left one was still in a sling , thanks to the fight with Rivkin. The younger man still had colourful marks on his face and neck, and Leon winced internally thinking about the bruises that the man probably carried under his clothes. He hadn’t thought much about the agent’s injuries until this moment.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs shouted, standing up from his desk. McGee raised his head from whatever he was doing on his computer and Ziva zeroed a deadly glace towards the SFA from her desk.

“Agent DiNozzo is being promoted to Senior Agent and taking over a new RU, Gibbs,” Vance cut in sharply, trying to avoid the inevitable discussion. He chose to say ‘promoted’ instead of ‘transferred’ to try to get points with DiNozzo and annoy the MCRT team lead at the same time.

“Promoted?!” Came the irritated question from Ziva that stood up, hands propped on her desk, trying to look menacing. “He should be dismissed! And arrested for the murder of Michael!” She exclaimed.

Gibbs moved to position himself in front of the Israeli.

“My dear Ziva,” Ducky intervened softly, approaching the woman. “Anthony defended himself against a very skilled opponent. If Officer Rivkin was not so down in his cups, we might be having a different conversation right now,” Ducky completed, trying to sooth the woman’s feelings but disregarding the wince from the seated agent.

The comment didn’t sit well with those around the MCRT bullpen and Balboa and Peterson approached the group, stopping at the entrance of the team area, close to Tony’s desk.

“And you just accepted that promotion without talking to me?” Gibbs advanced towards his SFA desk, being sure to keep in front of Ziva to impede her advancement.

“What was there to talk about, Gibbs?” Tony said quietly, not even stopping collecting his things and putting them in a box on top of the desk. “You were clear which side you’re taking, even if I was following your orders all along while trying to protect your chosen one.”

“You didn’t have to confront Rivkin!”

“You know damn well I went to talk to Ziva!” Tony finally exploded, throwing one last item into the box and getting up. “I didn’t expect her to be harbouring the Mossad spy that you told to leave the country twice, in her apartment!”

“You should not have gone to my apartment! It is nothing to do with you!”

“Oh, I agree, I didn’t care about anything to do with you, princess,” the sarcastic DiNozzo was back. “I tried to give you a chance to explain for Gibbs’s sake. I knew what you were from the beginning.”

The comment pushed the liaison’s buttons, and she moved around her desk, but Gibbs held her arm to stop her movement.

“What, one small problem and you run away?” Gibbs threw against his subordinate.

The scoffs and grim laughs filled the bullpen, making the group inside the MCRT bullpen take stock of the audience. McGee seemed to diminish, hiding behind his monitors. Ducky looked slightly ashamed, and Abby looked around in surprise. Ziva raised her head in a proud stance, pulling away from Gibbs’ hand, crossing her arms in front of her in a defiant pose. Gibbs glanced around but dismissed the onlookers, coming back to focus on the younger agent in front of him. Vance was surprised at the attitude of the other agents, not knowing what they might have seen or thought of the MCRT interaction.

“ONE SMALL problem?!” Tony pushed himself to his full height, straightened his back and looked the team leader straight in the eye. “I have been trying to discuss this with you for months. You keep brushing me off. You wouldn’t listen. I told you about the lack of support from McGee and Ziva. You knew she lied about Rivkin. You cut me out of that stupid cloak & dagger operation because you were pissed I followed Shepard’s orders!” DiNozzo was a bit out of breath. “I won’t keep repeating myself and my gripes. That ship has sailed”, he snorted at his own expression. “What’s the problem? Aren’t we all getting what we wanted? The Director is shipping me away from the limelight and now he can have the perfect MCRT he always dreamed about,” Tony motioned with his good hand towards the quiet Vance by the entrance of the bullpen. “McGee will be able to prove he’s better than me in every way as soon as he gets his desired SFA promotion,” another gesture to the younger man hiding behind his computer. “Miss Mossad over there gets to keep on spying away and you keep your chosen ones close by, and I don’t have to keep risking my life to keep everybody else happy!” DiNozzo finished, closing the box in front of him with precise movements fuelled by anger.

“Well, your life is cheap.”

The air seemed to woosh out of the area with Gibbs’ words. Tony was able to identify the reactions around him.

The short, happy laugh from Ziva, like she was feeling vindicated.

The snort, almost laugh from McGee, agreeing but trying not to gloat.

The sad “Gibbs!” exclamation from Abby. Not condemning but unhappy for the sentiment to be expressed out loud.

The sharp “Jethro!” from Ducky, this one more condemning, even if not for the reasons most people would expect. Even if the medical examiner understood the team leader’s irritation with the whole situation, and sometimes with the younger agent’s choices, Ducky couldn’t condone with the way Gibbs expressed himself. He would need to find time to have another conversation with his friend about his boorish way to address his concerns. The medical examiner would also have to consider how to discuss young Anthony’s behaviour without ruffling more feathers.

The loud silence from the Director at the entrance of the bullpen, observing the conversation.

The angry and sad breath intake from Balboa and Peterson, their faces showing how upset they were with what was going around.

Tony didn’t feel the comment like a punch in the chest, as he might have expected. It was more like the last threads of the connection he had with Gibbs and the team just fraying out and disappearing, like there was nothing else holding them together. The pain in his shoulder flared up, a reminder that his body was tensing up and it didn’t help his injury. He took a deep breath, let it go slowly and spoke calmly, much more calmly than he was feeling throughout this conversation.

“It really puts everything in perspective, huh?”

“It’s not what I meant,” Gibbs said angrily.

Tony shook his head. “You can’t go around all the time saying you only speak what you mean and then go back on your word now because the comment was more public than you wanted it to be. It’s clear that you don’t put much stock in me risking my life to save yours, or anyone else’s by the way. You think that since you don’t value it, then it doesn’t have the same weight as everybody else’s.”

“No!” Gibbs interrupted. “Just that it’s easier to risk your life than it is to choose which person to save.”

“Like I had to do when I jumped in the Potomac and had to choose who to pull out first, Maddie or you? Or when I had to stop looking for a little girl in a burning building otherwise her brother and I would die? You mean that kind of decision?”

Gibbs huffed and shifted in place uncharacteristically.

“Don’t try to bullshit a bullshitter, Gibbs. You used to know better. Seems that not all your memories are back after all.”

“Don’t even…”

Tony interrupted, still calm but with steel in his voice. “Don’t even try to bring up the issues you have? Or the team, for that matter? Because you only discuss this kind of stuff in your ‘office’?”

Taking another deep breath, Tony continued: “Like I said, everybody gets what they want, and I won’t have to work anymore with someone that helped to Murder. My. Partner.” He glared at Ziva.

She growled and made to advance towards Tony; Gibbs blocked her again, while narrowing his eyes at Tony’s comments. McGee squawked in an offended way and Abby actually screamed “How could you, Tony!”.

“Simple, Abby, have you forgotten Kate so quickly?” Abby’s jaw flapped.

He ignored everyone else, keeping his eyes on Gibbs, his body half turned to protect his injured shoulder, and his awareness dialled up to the max so he could perceive anyone else approaching.

“I think this is enough…” Vance tried to stop the derailment of the conversation at this point.

Tony tried a one shoulder shrug but grimaced in pain. He picked up a black notebook from the top of his desk, raising it and turned to McGee.

“I was going to offer you my SFA black book…”

“I don’t need your overused pick-up lines, Tony,” McGee retorted.

“…but since I know you wouldn’t value it, I think Joshua should be the new keeper,” Tony completed without missing a beat.

Joshua Harris, Peterson’s SFA, came from the side bullpen, bypassing the other team leaders and the Director, ignoring Gibbs, Ziva and the tension in the room.

“Really, Tony? That would be amazing! Thanks for trusting me. I will do you proud.”

“Unless you want to move?”

“Nah, Troy is gold. I’m good as his SFA for a while. But I will put forth my probie for your consideration,” he joked as he picked up the black covered notebook from the top of the cardboard box on top of Tony’s desk.

“She was already there,” Tony gave a small smile. Ricky Balboa advanced and picked up the cardboard box. “I’ll walk down with you, Tony. I can put this in your car while you are at HR.”

“That is it?!” Ziva exclaimed and turned to Gibbs. “Will you let him get away with what he said about me? And he should be answering for Michael’s death, not walking out of here as nothing happened!”

Tony put a hand on Balboa’s arm to stop him from reacting and responding before Gibbs could say anything. “Which part of what I said was a lie? You are Mossad and a spy. You lied to us all about your involvement and knowledge of Rivkin’s activities. You were Ari’s handler, the one who did the profile of our team so he could kill Kate.” A quiet murmur of agreement went round the room. “Everything is true. You don’t like? Too bad, buttercup. Have to live with your choices.”

“DiNozzo!” The Director finally called out. “That’s enough.”

“Sure, Director, your problem now. I’m moving on, so, not my circus, not my monkeys anymore.” DiNozzo moved away from his desk and the MCRT bullpen, walking towards the stairwell door with Balboa still holding the cardboard box with Tony’s stuff.

“Sort out your papers, DiNozzo, and go talk to the Pentagon to sort out your access to the new RU,” Vance said, turning to go back to his office.

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs walked after the two men and tried to reach out for the younger agent’s arm, but Balboa intercepted the movement, allowing Tony to continue towards the stairs.

“I’m done, Gibbs. I’m tired of your rules only applying to others or when you’re in the mood.”

Tony reached the stairwell door, opened it and held it for Balboa to pass by before following. He could see Abby moving to talk to an angry Ziva and Ducky touching Gibbs’ arm to take his attention away from Tony.

As the door started closing behind him, DiNozzo heard Ziva’s parting shot in a venomous tone: “You will pay! You will pay for everything!”

Tony held the door open to answer: “I’ve been paying since the moment you set foot in the bullpen, princess. Maybe it’s time to reverse the charge.” He walked away, letting the door bang shut.

Balboa was waiting a few steps down. “You okay Tony?” He asked with a worried glance.

DiNozzo shook his head but uttered his trademark response of “I’m fine”. Pulling his car keys from a pocket and passing it on to his friend he asked: “Could you take the box to my car, please? I’ll go sort things up at HR.”

“Where are you going, Tony? I didn’t know there’s an opening in any RU,” Martin Balboa asked while grabbing the offered key. “Maya is a good probie and I’d hate for NCIS to lose her. But maybe it’s better if she moves on before she gets too disillusioned, especially with other agents,” he completed with a twist of his mouth.

“Ah, you’ll always hold the line, Martin. It’s a new RU, connected to some secret programme mixing military and civilian but under the auspices of Homeland,” Tony explained. “Not even Vance knew all the details. Looks like I’ll have to wait and see which rabbit hole I’m getting into. Delores Bromstead is doing the transfer. Another one that will be happy to see me go. Maya’s still doing well with Peterson and it’s a good team. They rarely interact with Gibbs, so she should be okay.”

“I really don’t know what happened to him. He wasn’t such a bear all the time.”

“A bomb, another coma, some amnesia happened to him. Maybe it’s all the concussions catching up. But I can’t help if he doesn’t want help. Or even accept that he needs help. I was serious back there, I’m done, Martin. No more punching bag, no more the clown so junior agents don’t feel inferior. I had to climb every obstacle on my own and here they keep slapping my hand away when I try to help. Well, let them fend for themselves then, see what it really means.” Tony answered bitterly. “And watch Ziva.”

Balboa shook his head in dismay. “I don’t like to see you like this, Tony. Doesn’t feel like you. After you finish here, we should go meet some of the boys. We can’t shoot hoops, but we can sit, talk trash, eat some wings, even if you can’t have a beer,” he tried to joke.

“Let’s see. I’m pretty tired.”

“Maybe it’s best if you don’t go home,” Balboa retorted.

Tony smiled sadly. “I contacted a frat brother and arranged for the movers to take care of everything between yesterday and today. The apartment should be empty by now. I have a hotel room for a week and a list of possible places to look at. Might hold on to that depending on where I end up.”

“Good. Better not give them any chance to harass you more. We let a lot slide, and nobody wants to do that anymore.”

“Don’t go looking for trouble. Not for me. Vance is delighted with this change.”

“A bit for you, because you’re worthy of it. You always had our collective sixes. But also, for us, because it isn't kosher how they can still be on that bitch’s side. The rest of us might have failed you these last couple of years, but the truth is nobody was sure you would welcome our help. Not against Gibbs.”

Tony frowned. “Probably wouldn’t have, Martin, not until I was thrown to the wolves for doing my job, for what, the third time since Vance arrived? And I’m not even going into Shepard’s tenure. Yep, wakeup call, my friend.” Tony touched his injured shoulder. “Painful wakeup call.”

They separated at the entrance to the HR department, with Balboa continuing towards the parking lot and Tony walking through the department’s door.

“See you in a minute, Tony. I’ll wait by the car to give your keys back and make sure no one comes around to harass you,” Martin said while walking away and without waiting for DiNozzo’s acknowledgement.

Delores Bromstead met Tony by the entrance of the HR area and invited him into her office. She was professional and quick; she certainly wasn’t the type to chitchat. Considering the showdown at the bullpen and the arctic conversation with Vance before, Tony was okay with the mild-mannered administrator and the efficient way she dealt with the whole transfer.

Tony left the HR office in less than half an hour with a folder full of signed paperwork, directions to an office in the Pentagon, a meeting scheduled for the afternoon, and the name of General Jack O’Neill as his contact.

*WADC*

Going through security at the Pentagon was what it was, with all the hassle that security screening at building entrances usually entailed, but which Tony found intriguing, a little funny, and a lot unsettling at the side eyes he was getting when he showed the letter directing him to General O’Neill. No comments were forthcoming, but the looks certainly indicated an expectation related to that specific secret project.

DiNozzo walked calmly in the indicated direction, the folder with his transfer documents secured under his slinged arm. The first door he encountered had a Homeland Security name and logo on it with an ominous ‘Special Projects’ underneath. The agent knocked carefully, and the door was opened quickly by an airman. They looked at each other for a moment, then the airman invited him in before asking what he needed. Tony pulled the folder from under his left arm, showing the NCIS logo on it. “I’m Agent DiNozzo, from NCIS. I should be working with Homeland in a new RU…?” he fizzled out at the end, not really sure of the details.

“Oh, yes, Colonel Davis warned us,” the airman smiled welcomingly. “Please take a seat, Agent DiNozzo, I’ll let the brass know you’ve arrived.”

Tony nodded, choosing one of the standard waiting chairs that you could find in any government building. Not as bad as the ones in hospital waiting rooms, but certainly not made for a comfortable long wait. DiNozzo knew that most brass played the same power games as agency directors and politicians, making you wait to show how busy they were and how magnanimous they could be to finally talk to you, even if they were the ones asking for your presence.

DiNozzo put the folder back under this left arm, rearranging the sling to try to get a bit more comfortable for what he expected to be a long wait. Tony had barely closed his eyes, trying to relax, when the airman was back calling him to the inner office. He scrambled to get up in surprise and the other man dithered, not sure if he should offer help. Tony waved him away, rearranging his sling and clothes, making sure the folder was still in place. He nodded and followed the airman toward the office.

“Agent DiNozzo, from NCIS, sirs!” came the crisp announcement from the airman. Tony walked into the room and heard the door closing behind him.

“Welcome, DiNozzo,” the greeting got Tony's attention, and he turned to his left to find Tom Morrow, previous NCIS director and current Deputy Director for Homeland in the room.

“Ah, hello, sir,” DiNozzo answered. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Morrow snorted. “This is a ‘very special position’, DiNozzo, and I’m happy we got a ‘very special agent’ to man it”

Tony smiled wanly, unsure if the other man remembering how he used to answer phone calls at NCIS was a good thing or not. He turned towards the big desk in the centre of the room to see a man, General O’Neill certainly, sitting there with another officer standing by his side, a Colonel according to the insignias. Colonel Davis,’ DiNozzo’s mind suggested.

“Let’s take this conversation to the meeting table, gentlemen,” the general said. standing up. “We don’t need another fainting spell during the explanation of the job, do we?” He joked, looking at Morrow.

“Your delivery method of relevant information leaves a lot to be desired, Jack, and you don’t even consider risks related to age,” Morrow retorted tartly.

The presumably Colonel Davis lowered his head, hiding a smile.

“You know me, Tom, I’m all for pulling off the bandaid in one go.”

“More like in the most painful way possible,” Morrow responded, moving toward the big meeting table at the left side of the office, capable of comfortably fitting at least 10 people.

O’Neill chose the head of the table farther away from the door and a wall at its back. Colonel Davis arranged his paperwork at the superior officer's right-hand side, and Tom Morrow sat at the general’s left side, gesturing to DiNozzo to take the chair by him. Tony moved calmly to the indicated seat, pulling his folder from under his arm and laying it quietly on the table before sitting down.

“Well, Agent DiNozzo, we have a hefty amount of information to cover and then you will have some serious decisions to make,” O’Neill declared, hands on top of the table. “You already know Tom Morrow,” he gestured to the other man. “He’s the assistant director of Homeland Security, responsible for Special Projects. I’m Major General Jack O’Neill. Two Ls,” he signalled the number with two fingers. “I’m the Director for Homeworld Security and Colonel Paul Davis here,” he pointed to his other side, “is my assistant director.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at the general’s title but didn’t have the time to ask anything before the Colonel interrupted.

“We should start with the NDAs, sir,” Colonel Davis interjected, piling up a few, maybe too many, folders between himself and Tony, midway on the table.

DiNozzo’s eyebrows jumped up together this time, showing how impressed he was with the amount of paperwork presented for his reading and signing pleasure before he could even know what this position entailed.

“Your security level is quite high, DiNozzo,” Morrow said quietly at his side. “But this is the most… probably the most important secret there is in the world at the moment,” he finished seriously.

Tony turned to look at his ex-director, surprised at the declaration.

“That’s a lot of fear mongering,” O’Neill kept a chirpy tone. “Unfortunately, also probably all true,” he gestured towards the pile of paper in the middle of the table.

Colonel Davis pushed the folders closer towards DiNozzo and Tony pulled them the rest of the way, until they were resting closer to him.

“While you read and sign,” O’Neill declared, standing and slapping the tabletop, “we can grab some coffee and pastry. There’s pastry, right, Davis?” He asked his subordinate, his tone between eager questioning and a threatening warning.

“Of course, sir,” was the younger man's long-suffering response. “We have some Danish pastries and muffins that the commissary delivered earlier today.”

Jack clapped his hands and wriggled them in anticipation. “Oh, I hope it’s blueberry muffins! The coffee is not at Danny’s level, but that’s a hard standard to live by, so I’m happy with what we can get.” The General turned away from the meeting table and moved to a corner of the room, where a good spread was waiting on a small buffet cupboard.

Tom Morrow tapped Tony’s uninjured shoulder with a supportive smile and stood up to follow the military man.

“Would you like a coffee and something to eat, Agent DiNozzo, while you read and sign?” Colonel Davis offered.

DiNozzo raised his head to face the other man. “Ah, yes, please, Colonel, some coffee with milk and sugar. Any pastry that survives the General attack would be good,” he joked weakly.

Coronal Davis smiled brightly at the response and pushed a couple of pens closer to the agent. “No problem, sir.”

Tony sighed and opened up the first folder, starting to read the hefty document. He was used to NDAs but this lot was certainly the biggest he’d ever had to do in one go. He let the conversation buzzing from the corner of the room act as white noise while he concentrated. Tony barely nodded a thanks when the coffee cup and plate with a couple of pastries and a muffin were put on his right side, in deference to his functioning upper appendage. DiNozzo drank the coffee and chewed slowly on the food while going through page after page, never making any out loud comment, but letting his mind swirl around with the amount of incredible information he was getting. He finished the last page, signed the last dotted line, closed the file and put his right hand on top of it, taking deep, calming breaths. He finally raised his head to look at the other men who’d seen he was done, and were coming to sit again at the table.

“Aliens?! A big disc that travels through space?! Humans around the galaxy?!” He asked softly, eyes darting between the others.

“And big spaceships!” Jack crooned, slapping his hands together. “And a few space fighters. It’s been hard to get the money for all that, but I think we are doing okay,” he smiled winningly.

Morrow snorted at the General’s peppy attitude, turning towards the agent to address his comments. “Yes, like I said before, it was quite a surprise when I was briefed. I visited SGC, and even went on an off-world mission. Maybe if I was younger I would be more enthusiastic to repeat the experience, but SG teams tend to encounter problems when exploring.”

“Oy, Tom, not true!” O’Neill complained.

“Actually, sir,” Colonel Davis said wickedly. “SG-1 has an 85% chance of encountering hostilities on their missions, according to historical data. The other teams average around 65%. The lowest risk teams are SG-23 and SG-24, our mainly diplomatic units, with a measly 35% rate of hostile encounters.”

Jack turned an annoyed eye toward his assistant. “Not helping, Paul. We are trying to persuade Agent DiNozzo that this is a good gig for him.”

“Ah, don’t worry, General,” Tony commented in a light tone. “I’m quite used to FUBAR situations. That wouldn’t be a reason for me to back off.”

“And what would be, DiNozzo?” O’Neill turned back to the agent.

“The kind of people I’ll be working with. The team I might have. Do I have a team?”

“Not at the moment, no,” O’Neill answered. “We tried to work with AFOSI, didn’t go well, though. NID is a pain in the ass and more on the side of the Trust than on ours…”

“Homeland itself is too focused on ICE and the like,” Morrow completed. “Special projects don’t have a lot of clout and we actually would prefer to stay under the radar to try to keep the whole programme secret.”

“Yeah, I think the normal Joe will flip its lid if they find out that ‘alien’ is not only about people born in different countries,” Tony joked.

“This would be something you could help with, DiNozzo,” Morrow continued. “Ideas to help keep the project under wraps and maybe suggestions about dealing with the eventual disclosure. We know it’s inevitable but we are doing our best to push it as far into the future as possible.”

Tony nodded in agreement. “Right now I would say ‘deep space telemetry’ is a piss-poor excuse if people start to really pay attention to the project’s TOE.”

“Heh, we spread things far and wide,” Jack shrugged.

“It’s still a workout,” Davis finished quietly.

“Let’s not overwhelm our shiny, new investigator!” O’Neill stood up and rearranged his uniform to look better. “What do you think about going to check out the cool places? The mountain is the best but you’ll get to Area 51 soon enough. I asked Hank to hold SG-1 home today so we could introduce you.”

“That sounds great, General,” Tony agreed, keeping his breath and his freak-out under control. “Should I worry about how long my car will be parked here, Colonel?” He turned to ask Davis.

“We can arrange to move it to a more discreet place, sir,” the Colonel answered. “If you are okay with leaving your keys with me.”

“Try to keep it in one piece, please? I had one car totalled on live tv after it was stolen and the CIA exploded another one. I sure would prefer not to go car shopping again.”

“Maybe stick to the ubiquitous government black SVUs, DiNozzo,” Jack looked surprised by the short account. “Less painful to you and your wallet.”

“You’ll be travelling a lot with this post, DiNozzo,” Morrow stated. “I think it’s better to leave your car in a secure location and use an agency issued one wherever you need it. But you might be hitching a better ride all around,” the Homeworld assistant director smirked.

“Oh, yeah! We have a sweet ride whenever one of our ships is in Earth orbit. Today is the Daedalus, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Davis accepted the car keys DiNozzo threw at him and collected the folders from the table. “Colonel Bryce in command.”

O’Neill nodded and moved back to his own working desk, picking up a parcel from one of its drawers. ”I’ll take Agent DiNozzo for a quick tour at SGC, introduce Hank and the kids, and probably let Danny do the complete explanation of the Stargate,” he smiled with a hint of sadism towards the other man.

“After all the reading he had to do, maybe give the man a break before throwing him at Jackson,” Morrow suggested.

Tony swerved around, following the conversation.

“Dr Jackson does a great introduction on the Stargate, the project and all its ramifications,” Davis stated.

“A very detailed introduction,” Morrow whispered closely to DiNozzo.

“Mitchell and Vala will be there, Danny won’t babble too much,” O’Neill walked to the centre of the room, the parcel secured firmly under one arm. “Come on, DiNozzo, let’s go for a ride!”

Tony turned to Morrow, who waved him off. “Sorry, it’s a treat, but I have to go back to Homeland and finish the paperwork. I’ll send you the standard report that you’ll be able to send NCIS but any actual cases will be dealt with within Homeworld.” He waved again to dismiss whatever objection Tony was gearing up to start. “I’ll deal with Vance, don’t worry. There’s no way he’ll be read into the project.”

General O’Neill and Colonel Davis both nodded at that comment. DiNozzo moved closer to O’Neill and watched the other two men move towards the office door. By his side, O’Neill said: “Two for transport, Daedalus,” and a white light engulfed the pair. Tony blinked and barely saw what seemed to be the bridge of a Navy ship before the white light engulfed them again. He blinked a few more times to clear his vision and when he could see again without any spots in his eyes he was clearly in a military meeting room, with a table smaller than the one in O’Neill’s office, a spiral staircase in one corner, a window to an office in the other side of the room, and a big glass wall opposite the stairs showing two levels down and an immense ring positioned in between carved walls.

Tony blinked again and moved slowly towards the big window, eyes never wavering from the sight before him.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” O’Neill bounced on the balls of his feet, a grin on his face.

“Pandora’s box…” DiNozzo muttered.

“I think he will fit right in, General,” the comment came from behind the two men, finally distracting DiNozzo enough to tear himself from the mesmerizing image on the other side of the window.

Six people were in the middle of the room. A one-star general with a very correct posture and an impeccable uniform advanced with an extended hand. He seemed to be around the same age as General O’Neill but less battle weary, with a softer visage.

“Welcome aboard, Agent,” Tony shook the offered hand and nodded with a small smile.

“Anthony DiNozzo is the name,” O’Neill said by the side, still with his animated attitude.

“Call me Tony, please.”

“This is General Hank Landry, commander of the Stargate Command,” O’Neill started the introductions.

Landry gave a small smile and retreated to allow the others in the room to approach.

“Colonel Cameron Mitchell, SG-1 CO,” O’Neill waved and the younger man approached quickly, shook DiNozzo's hand and retreated to be by the side of his companions.

“Colonel Samantha Carter, SG-1 2iC and genius extraordinary,” the general continued the introductions, this time with a soft smile that brought a blush to the woman’s face and made DiNozzo glance sideways to the older man, sensing a deeper connection between them. He also extended the parcel he’d brought with him, passing it to Colonel Carter, who accepted it with a simple nod before turning to Tony.

“Welcome aboard, DiNozzo,” Samatha said softly and let out a bigger smile when Tony raised an eyebrow to her. “Tony.”

DiNozzo felt more than saw O’Neill stiffen a bit with the friendly greeting. Tony filed the man's reaction and the discreet glance Colonel Carter threw towards her superior officer before going back to her team.

“There are other scientists involved in the project, but SG-1 tends to hog Sam’s time,” Mitchell explained, his posture relaxed, hands in his BDUs pants pockets.

“Yeah, well, she’s the best,” O’Neill said, trying to go back to his light mood. “And SG-1 deserves the best, right, Danny?”

The last white man in the group approached, hand extended to shake. “I believe everyone in SGC deserves the best but I’m not ashamed to hog Sam’s time,” he joked. “Dr Daniel Jackson,” he introduced himself to DiNozzo.

“He was the one to solve the mystery of the Stargate, how we could use it,” O’Neill offered. “The jury is still out on whether we should thank or curse him,” he joked.

Daniel snorted and took a few steps back, allowing the next person to approach the agent, but positioning himself between O’Neill and the rest of the team. That was a tall, well-built black man, wearing robes in the Star Wars Jedi style, and holding a staff as tall as him. He had some white hair at the sides and still dark hair on top of his head, and a gold symbol in the middle of his forehead that seemed ingrained more than tattooed. He moved a few paces and bowed. He did not offer his hand after straightening up.

“Teal’c, our first resident alien,” O’Neill joked. “He’s something important in the Jaffa Nation government,” he waved as if he couldn’t be bothered to remember the details. “But he’s nice enough to still spend time here to keep the poor Tauris’ butts safe.”

“Indeed,” came the calm response in a deep voice. DiNozzo bowed back, going with what he knew of Japanese culture. This alien man reminded him of samurai warriors’ tales.

“And the last member to join the gang,” the tone suggested O’Neill was not thrilled with the presence. “Vala Mal Doran, another alien in our midst.”

The brunette swished her way forward, a big inviting smile on her face, her arms extended and grabbed Tony’s hand with both of hers during their greeting. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Tony,” she whispered throatily, invading his personal space, her left hand sliding up and down his good arm, advancing to touch his back, her smile becoming more seductive by the second.

“Vala!” Came the exasperated call from Daniel Jackson.

O’Neill and Landry sighed out loud, like parents that didn’t know what to do with a mischievous child.

The Colonels Carter and Mitchell face-palmed but it was possible to see a smirk hiding under their hands.

Teal’c stayed exactly as he was, nothing showing in his face or posture.

Vala tried to get even closer to Tony but the agent took a step back and tightened his hold on the hand he was shaking, pulling the woman’s arm up and around, making her twirl a bit until her back was to him. Tony then pressed his arm against her waist, never letting go of her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you too, Ms Mal Doran,” he said softly closer to her ear but loud enough so the others in the room could hear. “I expect it would be interesting working with you, but I need my wallet to stay where it belongs, and that’s in my jacket pocket, not your BUDs pants. I would pick it back up myself, but I don’t want a lecture from my doctor if I try to use my bum arm more than I should.” DiNozzo let go of her hand and pushed her lightly away from him. “The dislocated shoulder suffered enough already from two other brunettes. I don’t want to see if third time's the charm and I completely lose the use of my left arm,” he finished with a bit of a bite.

“Vala, you didn’t!” Daniel humpfed, approaching the woman quickly, palms up, requesting that she return whatever she took from the agent.

“Of course she did,” Landry said tiredly.

“Well, it’s a good test,” O’Neill retorted with some humour. “Good to know our new agent is quick on his feet, though.”

”Like I said, he’ll fit right in,” Mitchell commented, with Samantha still hiding a smile behind her hand.

“He’s good,” Vala handed in DiNozzo’s wallet to Jackson and turned back to look at Tony. “It was a test that I’m glad you passed,” she stated. “But I want to know everything about these other brunettes and how they injured you,” she continued while interlinking her arm with Tony’s good one. “I’m offering to help treat it, of course,” she finished locking eyes with him.

DiNozzo’s head cocked to one side, trying to get a read of the alien woman. She had sharp edges and the posture of a warrior. Shadows in her eyes that spoke of a painful past. Her general demeanour was perky and playful but Tony knew that mask well. After all, he used one like it most of the time himself.

“Some TLC might be exactly what the doctor recommended, Ms Mal Doran,” he declared with a practiced smile, still holding something back.

“Oh, Vala, please. And what is TLC? Something you trade off-world?” she asked, a more real smile showing. “I’m very good with negotiations when the product is valuable enough,” she declared.

O’Neill snorted while Daniel facepalmed with a muttered “Oh god”.

Mitchell and Landry held in their laughter and T’ealc stayed quiet, just observing.

It was Sam that explained. “TLC means tender love and care, Vala,” she smiled knowingly towards the other woman. “Something we say on Earth that helps heal almost anything between family and friends.”

“Oh!” Vala looked intensely towards DiNozzo. “I think we can work on this TLC and then we should be great friends soon,” she declared with a smirk.

There was silence for a moment and the most unexpected source cut it with what was clearly his way to make a joke.

“Fascinating,” Teal’c declared in a deadpan tone.

Tony turned to the alien man quickly enough to almost have whiplash, eyes wide open in surprise.

Laughter filled the room soon after. “I knew it was a mistake letting Jack show you all those TV shows,” Landry commented after controlling his laugh.

Teal’c simply raised one eyebrow without moving any other muscle, in an impressive show of facial control.

O’Neill slapped Landry’s back, a smile on his face. “I did SG a favour there, Hank. It was a nightmare trying to explain every single pop culture reference that inundates this place.”

“Not to say all the idioms and slangs,” Jackson nodded in agreement.

“Thanks for the laugh, T, but it’s time to take DiNozzo to the bowels of SGC and let the mean doctors poke him with their big needles.” O’Neill saw the disgruntled look on the agent’s face. “Sorry, man, medical checks are mandatory here for a really long list of reasons. The good side is that we have some alien toys that might help speed up your recovery there,” he pointed to the sling holding Tony’s left arm in place.

“It’s better that Vala and I accompany him, sir,” Carter said after managing to control her laughter. “If we’re using the healing device, we should do turns so as not to get too tired.”

“Yeah, I saw his file,” O’Neill nodded. “The arm and shoulder are not the only things that Dr. Lam will need to deal with. After all, we want our new investigator to be in tip top shape, don’t we?”

“What are you talking about, General?” Tony finally interrupted, still being held by Vala.

“We do the normal exams and treatments here, but we have some trinkets that we collected around the galaxy that can put you back together, almost as new,” O’Neill responded. He shot a glance towards Daniel and completed, “Well, in most cases anyway.”

“I believe General Landry might want to discuss things with you, General O’Neill,” Mitchell filled the silence after the last comment. Nobody wanted to remember that time that Daniel Jackson ascended to avoid dying of radiation poisoning. Mitchell might not have been present then, but the rest of SG1 still carried that wound. “We can take Agent DiNozzo down to the infirmary and start to get to know him. After all, SG-1 did most of the investigations until you invited him to the party, sir,” he smiled his best all-American, apple-pie, next door neighbour smile.
Jack O’Neill squinted at the younger man. “Are you telling me to go to work instead of playing tour guide, Mitchell?”

“Me, sir? Never!” The younger man smiled sweetly, gesturing to himself.

“Well, I’m saying it then,” Daniel Jackson waved towards the two generals. “You two need to reach an agreement about priorities, because NID is still trying to find a way to send a spy to Atlantis, Sheppard and MacKay are complaining non-stop about Elizabeth and we,” he gestured to his team, “are in dire need of some time off, or at least a non-end of the world type of mission.”

“Humm, I concur,” came the deep throaty comment from Teal’c.

O’Neill threw his arms in the air. “Okay, alright, you win!” He waved the group away. “Go on, children! Don’t scare the new agent! Much! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t! Go, go!” He kept waving until the group left through an almost hidden side door.

O’Neill sighed out loud and turned to the other general. “Work then, Hank?”

The other man smiled genially. “We have some decisions to make, Jack. I can sweeten the deal with some pie from the cafeteria?”

“Throw in some of Daniel’s pricey coffee and you have a deal!” O’Neill slapped the other man on the back and walked swiftly towards the office that could be seen from the meeting area.

Chapter Text

8080 words

Chapter 2

Vance was not feeling so smug anymore. DiNozzo had transferred two weeks ago and his expectations of things calming down and working better for the MCRT hasn’t been realized yet. He had promoted McGee to SFA immediately, but Gibbs was eating the young man alive and spitting out his bones without a care in the world. McGee was a trembling mess between the angry barking orders from Gibbs and the complete disrespect Ziva was treating him with, never acknowledging that he might have any power over her because of the said position.

The Director considered getting a fourth agent for the team, but Gibbs shot the idea down pretty quickly, even if he wouldn’t mention that he always left all the training of new agents to DiNozzo, saying they needed to work well together before bringing anyone else into their midst, and certainly no probies. Vance silently agreed with the lead agent on that, but thought Gibbs was making no attempt to make things work better . A fresh out of FLETC agent would run for the hills after being exposed to the competitive and bitter relationship that Gibbs seemed to be keen to push his team into.

Vance remembered how DiNozzo would jump up and say something about the case or throw a joke when Gibbs was at his worst. That usually would bring all the lead agent's attention to the younger man and Leon always saw it as another proof of DiNozzo’s need to be the centre of attention, to steal the thunder from others. He now could accept that the ex-SFA was trying to redirect Gibbs and protect the others from the older man’s wrath.

“Oh, too late to complain about it now,” Vance thought, slapping his hand on top of the pile of reports that started down the path of thinking about the MCRT issues. He had received a heartfelt thank-you from Morrow, accompanied by a bottle of expensive whiskey, saying he never expected DiNozzo to be the agent Vance sent his way but he was absolutely ecstatic with that decision. The truth was Vance didn’t make any effort to find someone for that position until the perfect storm happened and he could kill two birds with one stone: take DiNozzo out of the MCRT without Gibbs throwing a fit and perhaps having Morrow in debt with him.

Leon had believed he would get a foot in the door of that super-secret project that people would whisper about, and which seemed to gather so much attention from the Capitol and the White House. After all, DiNozzo would be the senior agent of that Residential Unit, dealing with Marines. He should have reported to Vance as the director of NCIS. Leon was flabbergasted and dismayed when he received the final transfer documents and it was clearly spelled out that DiNozzo would answer to Morrow and Homeland first, and from that to the Secretary of Defence and the President himself!

That was unheard of, even for the most secret projects! Getting an inkling of what was going on there would be worth Vance’s weight in negotiating power anywhere on the Hill! He tried to complain to SecNav and Morrow about the situation and was firmly rebuffed both times. When he tried to keep causing waves, he got a call from the SecDef with a warning that the next talk would be with the President himself, and it wouldn’t end well for Vance.

Now the NCIS Director was cut off from DiNozzo’s work and having to deal with JAG going for the MCRT’s throat because of Ziva’s lack of legal authority in their cases. That conversation was interesting. Ziva started the citizenship process with support from SecNav and a gullible Gibbs in her corner. Vance would be happy if no cases were thrown out and he could focus on pulling and pushing the NCIS toward the future he envisioned for the agency without so many shouting matches coming from the bullpen one floor below.

*WADC*

Two weeks working at Stargate Command, under Homeworld Security auspices, and DiNozzo was see-sawing between feeling like a newbie who knew nothing and happy with his years of investigative experience and the degrees that NCIS seemed so gung-ho in ignoring.

The visit to the medical department had not only been more of an eye opener related to the project, but also almost a spiritual experience. Not only the Goa’uld tech that Vala and Samantha manipulated with great expertise, but also what they called Ancient technology worked so well on him, that Dr Lam did a deep dive on his DNA.

At the end of it all, Tony’s injuries from his fights with Rivkin and Ziva were all cured by the Goa’uld device, and his plagued lungs and the old knee injured were healed using some Ancient tech being manipulated by a Dr Alison Porter. Tony was feeling almost brand new in body but his mind was doing uninterrupted cartwheels with all the information and all he was seeing.

When Dr Lam told him he was a natural ATA gene carrier, meaning he had some of those Ancients genes in his family line that gave him access to their technology, and explained why his treatment with those techs worked so well, Tony felt an almost uncontrollable urge to step back and run for the hills. Or better yet, run away from the mountain where the SCG was located.

His freak out brought General O’Neill back to the mountain for a face-to-face, heart-to-heart conversation. Jack O’Neill talked about his experience with the programme, being part of it since its beginning, going on the first mission to another planet, Abydos; believing they had closed the door forever and finding out in the most horrific way that it was not so.

Jack didn’t give a lot of details, offering Tony access to the mission reports as the best way to learn the ups and downs of the programme, since the history of how they got where they were had been Tony’s first experience of Daniel Jackson in lecturing mode. All that took place in the cramped, hoarder like office of Daniel, while the other man sat there, offering quiet support and gallons of good coffee.

“We only allow one day every 3 months for whingeing and throwing hands in the air here, the rest of the time, you do your best and always go above and beyond. Otherwise Earth is toast. And everybody on the planet with it,” O’Neill finished, slapping Tony’s shoulder on his way to the door. “Not even considering the Milky Way or Pegasus Galaxy.” He signed, stopping before leaving the office completely. “I know it’s a lot but Morrow talked you up and everything we’ve seen so far corroborates his assessment. Let’s keep the winning streak, huh?” Jack offered before walking out with a quick wave of farewell.

“I understand that you had some bad experiences in previous positions, but give us a chance?” Daniel asked quietly. “I was pretty disappointed when I came into the project, both times,” he said with a weary smile. “But the camaraderie, the friendships, the good we can do, really can help and outdo the bad.”

DiNozzo nodded and let himself relax in the chair he sat, putting the coffee mug in the small space available at the desk by its side. “Yeah, it’s a lot. A lot of information, of changing what I thought I knew, changing in expectations,” he sighed. “But O’Neill is right. This is important work. Save the world, the galaxy, kind of work. I’ll have my freak-out in the shower and I’ll be good tomorrow.” He looked at the other man like he wanted to say something else but was unsure of the response.

Daniel just sat there, a small smile on his face and the most calming posture he could muster. He understood the hesitance. He himself was much more guarded when he started with the Stargate project. Years in the foster system and the clubbing he’d received for his outrageous theories related to pyramids and aliens had made him cautious and suspicious. All his experiences through the gate helped him learn to trust again, especially people working at SGC.

“Would it be okay to come by from time to time to talk?” Tony finally asked softly.

Daniel smiled welcomely. “Of course! Any one of us, SG-1 or any other team, anyone in the base, would help you.” He lowered his voice and leaned into Tony’s space. “Don’t tell Vala I said so, but she can be a good listener and she can give some good advice, from time to time,” he finished with a smirk.

Tony laughed weakly but nodded in acceptance. He stood up, patted Daniel’s shoulder and left the office to go back to his designated quarters. He would need a quiet night to freak-out and then he would be ready to put himself back together and put his best foot forward. A bit like what he’d needed to do when Vance sent him afloat.

*WADC*

“You said you would help me, Abby!” Ziva pressured.

“Yeah, and I did, Ziva!” Abby answered earnestly. “I gave you the details I found of Tony’s new post and everything. But it seems it’s a kind of research project and they move around a lot.” She narrowed her eyes. “You said you’re trying to bury the hatchet with Tony…”

Ziva’s eyes glinted maliciously. “Exactly that, Abby, but if I cannot find and talk to him, how will I do that?”

Abby shrugged. “Send an email to the address I got you. Then you two can thrash it out and maybe plan a meeting to end this whole stupid hostility! I don’t like it when my silver fox is stressed out because of problems in the team! Gibbs has enough on his plate with just the victims and perps,” she completed, turning his back to the Israeli, devoting her attention to the report she was supposed to be completing for Balboa’s team.

Ziva’s anger came out, distorting her visage again, much like the way the director had noticed back in Israel when she attacked DiNozzo. The woman huffed but she knew there was nothing she could do at this point. She turned and left the lab without a goodbye to the other girl. Abby kept working, oblivious to Ziva’s attitude.

The Israeli went back to the bullpen area, blissfully unaware of the dark looks she kept getting from other agents and NCIS staff. If most had considered her arrogant in general and ignorant of American ways before, now they all considered her an enemy in their midst and did their best to avoid the Mossad liaison. It didn’t matter that she was supposedly going through the citizenship process, nobody that had had to deal with her before believed she would change her ways. The overall hostility only made it harder for the MCRT to work cases because other agents would only help grudgingly - and other law enforcement agencies and personnel would give the team an even wider berth. Nothing that would preoccupy Gibbs or Ziva much, but McGee and Vance were feeling the stress, whether because of it during cases or the piling up of reports and complaints.

The oblivious Mossad liaison moved to the MCRT team area and stopped by McGee’s desk. The young man was typing away, trying to complete one of the SFA required reports. He didn’t remember having to do so much work as SFA when Shepard promoted him while DiNozzo was acting team leader. Tim did remember telling Tony he wouldn’t do his work for him and refusing to touch the pile of reports the other agent passed on to him. Now, every time he even thought about saying something wasn’t part of his job, Gibbs would cut him quickly, saying his job was whatever Gibbs said it was. McGee was starting to understand the extra hours Tony spent in the office late at night and really starting to regret wanting the SFA position under Gibbs so much.

“McGee!” Ziva startled the agent. McGee turned to look at her with some trepidation. It was never a good thing when Ziva was that agitated. “I need you to find where Tony is!”

“Ah, Ziva, humm... I… I thought Abby had got you his contact details…” McGee half stuttered. He so didn’t want to get involved with that situation.

“She found an email!” Ziva threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “I do not want an email! I want an address so I can go confront… I mean go meet him in person.” Ziva tried to correct herself but there was no doubt what she meant.

“Sorry, Ziva, the address I have is a Homeland office inside the Pentagon,” McGee responded. “You know how that works. You let them know who you want to see and they let you through,” McGee tried to go back to his work.

“I do not want to go to your Pentagon! Where is he living? I went to his apartment and it was empty!” She started pacing inside the MCRT bullpen area, becoming more agitated.

“I don’t know,” McGee answered. “He probably didn’t want to keep paying rent when he won’t be in town much. The information Abby got did say he would be travelling a lot for this new post,” he continued, focusing on his screen.

“I need more!” Ziva stated, stopping in front of the young man's desk, hands on top of it, looming over the monitors.

“Need more what, Ziva?” came the stern question from the entrance of the bullpen.

Both agents turned to find the team lead standing there, his ubiquitous coffee cup in hand.

“Boss…” McGee half stood from his seat.

“I need an address, Gibbs,” Ziva declared firmly, chin up. “How should I solve this issue if I cannot talk to the person?”

“What issue?”

“It is personal,” Ziva tried to dismiss the concern.

Gibbs turned toward his new SFA and raised an eyebrow in question. McGee was afraid of both Ziva and Gibbs, but in the end, the Marine was his official superior and the only one he thought could control the Israeli.

“She wants Tony’s new home address, boss.”

Ziva turned an evil eye towards the young man. Gibbs focused on the young woman.

“Told ya to let it go, Ziver,” Gibbs said quietly. “You got your citizenship to think about and trying to maim or kill a federal agent will only send you to a dark hole somewhere.”

“It is not acceptable…” she tried again.

“You’re not so clean either, so better not stir the pot,” Gibbs passed by her to reach his desk.

“There is no pot!” She turned to keep looking at the older man.

“Stop being literal! We've got work to do! What did you find about the cameras around the bank area?’

Ziva crossed her arms, a stiff posture with a grim visage, staring at the lead agent with a stubborn stance.

“I got the bank information, Boss, and I’m going through now,” McGee offered quickly, hiding back behind his monitors.

The stare down continued for a moment. Gibbs just kept looking at Ziva while taking small sips of his coffee. She held her defiant posture a little longer but when the man didn’t budge, she huffed and turned to sit at her desk. She typed with angry strokes.

“I just received the video surveillance,” she declared, still with defiance in her tone.

“Then look at it and find something,” Gibbs stated, finishing drinking his coffee.

Ziva huffed again but started going through the video on her computer.

“Gibbs, my office!” came the order from the balcony above the bullpen.

McGee glanced up to confirm the presence of the director and went back to hide behind his computer. Ziva snorted in derision at the call and kept lazily going through whatever was on her screen. Gibbs threw his empty coffee cup into the trash and moved to answer the call.

“One of you better have something for me when I get back,” he declared as he went. He stopped in front of Ziva’s desk to deliver one last warning. “You best not move from that desk until you find something, David. We have a case and no time for you to flit around the building.”

The comment grabbed the young woman's attention. “Flit? I do not know what that signifies,” she answered, clearly upset to have to admit it.

“Look it up. That’s what dictionaries are for,” Gibbs declared, moving quickly towards the mezzanine stairs.

*WADC*

Director Vance was already perched behind his desk when Gibbs zoomed past his secretary and entered the office, closing the door with some force.

Vance just raised his eyebrows when the other man sat down without showing any concern. As much as Leon knew it was more of an act on the agent's part, it irked him the other’s ability to appear so dismissive of authority. Vance was also put out that his perceived upper hand over the team lead didn’t seem to be of much value. So far, the only thing he had actually achieved after giving the promotion and new position to DiNozzo was to promote McGee to Senior Field Agent of the Major Crime Response Team. And the younger agent was not delivering on the director’s expectations at all. In the end that decision might backfire spectacularly.

Gibbs raised his own eyebrows. “What, Leon?” He asked with little interest.

“I heard that Officer David is still trying to find and contact DiNozzo,” Vance was irritated enough to go directly to the point.

“I warned her off,” Gibbs went for dismissive.

“Yeah, she doesn’t seem to be getting that memo,” he answered sarcastically, opening up his silver case and pulling a toothpick that went quickly into his mouth.

“It’s early days. Let the citizenship process advance and she'll be too busy to even remember DiNozzo’s name,” Gibbs moved in the chair, trying not to show any discomfort.

“Well, we might not have that time,” Vance masticated the toothpick and pushed it to the side of the mouth. “Ziva did send some vaguely threatening emails to DiNozzo’s official work address, and she went twice to his old apartment.”

Gibbs made to get up. “I’ll talk to her,” he sighed.

Vance waved him to sit back down. “Not talk. Warn her clearly. Tom Morrow called me,” he emphasized. “If Ziva David continues to act as a threat to his project, while going after his agent, Homeland will use its powers and pull her as a possible enemy agent. The Patriot Act was thrown in during the conversation,” Vance declared bitterly.

“They can’t…”

“Oh, yeah, they can! The project Morrow is handling and DiNozzo is part of now has the backing of Air Force, Marine Command and SecDef! Not to mention the President! We can’t funk around with that kind of clout!” The toothpick broke under Vance’s teeth pressure.

Gibbs deflated somewhat. “She wants closure, Leon.”

“She doesn’t deserve it,” Vance said brutally. “We can’t let her bleed DiNozzo dry to appease her thirst for revenge , Gibbs,” Vance rested against his chair. “In the end, he was right, damn the man. Ziva David did spy on us for Mossad and her father. I like Eli and think I owe him a lot, but I’m not ready to give up my life, my position, the security of my family because that frat boy impersonator of yours dismantled the man’s plans.”

“He did good, didn’t he?” Gibbs provoked, not ashamed to take pleasure in the other man’s discomfort, even if he didn’t defend his SFA at the time.

“Better than I ever thought he was able to,” Vance conceded. He took a deep breath and sat straight. “It’s not here or there. He’s gone and we won’t have access to him again, if I’m reading Morrow’s position right. And he has some big brass backing him up. Let’s work on bringing the MCRT back to the levels that SecNav likes to brag about and not let this whole mess tank the agency.”

Gibbs nodded seriously. “I’ll have a talk with Ziva and make it clear that if she continues in this path, she’ll be alone.”

Vance sent the other man a dark look. “Remember, Gibbs, that if you decide, in the end, that you want to support your little protégé, you will go down with her. You might know a lot of skeletons around the capital, but Morrow’s project toppled Senator Kinsey and even NID can’t touch them,” he waved a hand to emphasize the issue.

“I’ll remember,” Gibbs responded grumpily. He was quick to get up and leave the office, not worrying about closing the door behind himself.

Vance rested again in his chair, picking up another toothpick without looking and automatically bringing it to his mouth. The old Gunny might think his advice was idle or not enforceable but Leon was kind of wishing he would try to protect Ziva David when she didn’t heed the advice. After all, the agency Vance envisioned didn’t have space for old, crusty miseries like Gibbs.

*WADC*

Tony visited the Alpha and Beta sites as a training run through the Stargate and got a good view of the military and Stargate Command version of preparedness for the end of the world. Not that DiNozzo wanted the world to end, but it was nice to see such oversight of the idea.

He visited Area 51 and the big science lab that base was. He went back to DC to meet Morrow and established procedures. By the end of his second week, he had solved a handful of small cases of people that were used to getting away with some smuggling and theft and didn’t heed the warning that a full-time investigator would be running the project now.

Aside from the work Tony was getting acclimated with, the constant efforts of Ziva David to find him was the other worry in his life. He was happy he arranged for his apartment to be packed and stored even before he knew where Vance was sending him to because that was the first place Ziva went to the same day he left the NCIS office. She had been back there once more, leaving the building super unsettled by her ferocity while asking questions about DiNozzo.

Tony knew Tom Morrow and SecDef had warned Vance about the situation, as much as they had told the NCIS Director that he wouldn’t be getting any information on Tony’s current position. But he also knew how stubborn Ziva David could be and, much like Gibbs, she would get hyper focused on her chosen target. Unfortunately, this time, Tony DiNozzo was the said target.

Some electronic issues started to pop up connected to his name, but SGC and Homeworld had both white and black hackers under contract to clean up any messes related to the project, so whatever Ziva and her helpers had planned, didn’t actually materialize.

Tony had to push away any worries about the Israeli when an urgent mission popped up and he went on his first big adventure SGC style. It all started with a Mayday call from an ally, a friend really, from the Langara planet. Jonas Quinn said that between Anubis, the System Lords and the Ori, their planet was in disarray, politically, socially and physically, since some bombs had been used that made the planet's inner layer of naquadah unstable.

SG1, SG3 and DiNozzo went to visit Jonas and Langara and came back in a hurry, pulling a fair number of refugees with them and considering that Langara wouldn’t be there in space for much longer, considering the number of earthquakes tearing the planet apart.

SGC had some unpopulated planets they knew of and were holding in reserve for just such emergence cases. Planets where the previous society died or was wiped out by the Go’auld or Ori but were still in an inhabitable condition. The people from Langara would have to start over with whatever they were able to carry through the gate during their mad dash to safety but the galaxy was a more welcoming place overall. There were enough baddies around, a lost in the bush Go’auld or two, or the pirate Lucian Alliance, but enough allies to help the group survive.

The next stop being planned was a visit to Atlantis, in the Pegasus galaxy, travelling in one of Earth’s spaceships. “And wasn’t this idea worth a head rush,” Tony thought amused. He was trying hard to follow General O’Neill comment, reserving a day here and there for a freak out in the confines of his shower, and kept plunging along the rest of the time.

There was another trip to DC planned, to talk with Morrow and get instructions on what he might have to look into while travelling aboard the Prometheus and when arriving in Atlantis. Since SG1 was official on down time, while T’ealc went back to Dakara for one of the Jaffa free nation meetings, the team decided to tag along and visit the city, with General O’Neill and have some fun in restaurants that they weren’t banned from, like the steakhouse in Colorado Springs.

*WADC*

The group had left the Pentagon and pulled O’Neill along with them for a night in town. They chose a nice Italian restaurant because DiNozzo knew the family who owned it. The group was able to get a round table by the back corner of the restaurant, closer to the kitchen but out of the way enough to appease the group that was never not on high alert.

The meal was very good, there was a few glasses of wine between Sam, Vala and Tony, and beers for the rest of the group. Tony was feeling mellow and well-integrated enough to joke that Daniel and Mitchell needed to find themselves a partner, while he put an arm over Vala’s shoulders and wriggled his eyebrows toward the General and Samantha Carter, all camaraderie. They finished the dessert and left the restaurant in good spirits.

That’s when things took a turn from the usual look of the group. They walked towards where the 2 government issued SVUs were parked, O’Neill walking with Carter, a bit ahead of the group, happy to be able to ditch his visible security that night, since he was with his old team, and accepting that they would be lurking close by. They were joking, discussing how to divide the group between the cars, knowing well that O’Neill and Carter would go out together, while Jackson and Mitchell would have to bear with the over-the-top flirting between DiNozzo and Vala.

O’Neill and Samantha had one of the cars opened and she was ready to climb on the passenger seat. Daniel and Mitchell were against the backseat door, faking a game of paper-rock-scissors, saying the winner would escape with the other couple. Vala was by the driver’s door of the second car, laughing out loud about the jokes, with Tony at her back, leaning over the hood of the SVU, head being held by an arm, a mellow smile on his face. It has been a long while since he felt as comfortable and serene with a group as he was now.

Tony should have known that nothing would be that simple and easy, considering his kind of luck being thrown in with SG1, because he had read the reports and remembered Colonel Davis’s statistics. He felt a hard thump on his back, propelling him forward, bumping into Vala hard.

Daniel and Mitchell were immediately on alert, moving out of the way, so they didn’t get caught in the other two’s tumble.

Carter was out of the car in a moment and O’Neill was on the other side of the SVU, calling his security team, before moving to stand with his old team.

“You finally left the hole you were hiding in, Tony!” came the angry comment from a short, slim brunette with a mid-eastern accent. She looked at the group around the two cars. “Do not think that this little… band of incompetent people you involved yourself with will be of any help. I have real backup. And I will have my revenge, you useless… waste of space… stupid… meatball penny cop!” She screamed, positioning herself in a fight pose, anger rolling out of her.

Three people advanced some from the shadows but kept their distance from the group. All of them had guns in their hands pointed towards the SGC group.

”You will not be able to escape this time, DiNozzo! After I finish with you, Anatoli, Michael’s cousin would like a word too,” Ziva kept going, malice dripping from her tone. “They were good friends and he misses his cousin very much.”

“Oh, you brought a Russian mob to help you?!” The surprised and delighted question came from Jack O’Neill, leaning lazily against the car. “That’s helpful! We do have some questions for them and we’re having a hard time convincing them to talk to us,” he finished sarcastically.

“I don’t think Miss Mossad thought to bring Tony here more work, sir,” Mitchell drawled, his posture also looking relaxed but his eyes were attentive.

“What does penny cop even mean?!” Daniel asked, clearly having been rolling the term in his mind.

“She’s probably thinking of the repeated comment in federal agencies that cops are a dime a dozen,” DiNozzo explained in a calm but tense tone. “Miss Mossad mangles English expressions all the time. I was never sure if it was because she really doesn’t get it or if she plays it out to be underestimated.”

“Oh, I think she doesn’t get it,” Sam contributed. “She doesn’t look very bright, coming at you like that.”

“Especially after the many times NCIS was warned against her attempts to get to you,” Jack informed.

“Hold your tongues!” Ziva screamed. “That is why DiNozzo can work with you! You are all jabberers like him! All unintelligent like him! Do you not see your situation?! We have the upper arm here! Stop talking drivel before I decide that you do not need to walk away from this!”

“Upper hand,” Daniel corrected absentmindedly, looking at the young woman with the same interest he would a new alien species.

“I do not plan to let anyone walk away from this, Ziva,” the one she referred to as Anatoli said in a low, intimidating tone.

“Do what you want, Anatoli, I just want DiNozzo to play with,” she answered with evil glee.

“Is this one of the brunettes responsible for the injuries you had when we first met?” Vala asked, head cocked to the left, observing the Mossad liaison with squinted eyes.

“Brunette number 2,” Tony answered. “I shot brunette number 1.”

“You murdered Michael,” Ziva advanced, trying to kick DiNozzo’s legs from under him.

Vala moved swiftly, parrying the attack and returning it with a quick sequence of jabs and kicks that threw the other woman painfully to the floor.

“You coward! Hiding behind a woman, are you?!” Ziva taunted from the floor.

“I helped heal his injuries, little girl,” Vala responded, still in front of Tony, in a relaxed position but ready for anything Ziva might think of throwing. “I liked the TLC but I think there are better things for us to do than deal with whatever you think you can deliver,” Vala smirked. “And nobody hides behind anybody in this team. Each and every one carries their own weight and helps as needed. Not that you know anything about teamwork, huh?”

Ziva started to rise from her down position, while trying to pull a knife from its sheath behind her back. “Take them out of the way, Anatoli!” She cried to her companions. She threw herself at Tony, but the hand behind her back hindered her and left her side exposed. Tony didn’t even bother to make a fist, but just jabbed her under the ribs with two stiff fingers, and she collapsed again with a whoosh of air.

Before the Russians could move, they were quickly surrounded by armed Marines in black BDUs. There were two Marines for each man, and they were quickly disarmed. Two other Marines helped Ziva stand up, holding on to her arms and taking her knife.

She fought against the hands holding her in place. “No! This is my revenge! You will not take it from me! Let me go! Do you know who I am?!”

“Oohh, full Karen blow out,” Mitchell fake-whispered to his team. “Not pretty, not pretty at all.”

“As a matter of fact, we do know who you are, Officer David,” An officer in USAF uniform approached from the other side of the government SVUs. “I don’t think we should let you go around without visible security, General. It’s a lot more work to clean up afterwards.”

“Hey, this was all DiNozzo!” Jack defended himself. “And there weren’t any dead bodies or even blood this time!”

The Russians moved restlessly and were quickly pushed towards other cars that were arriving to pick the attackers.

“I apologize, Colonel Davis,” DiNozzo said, between apologetic and sarcastic. “I really didn’t believe Gibbs would let his pet Mossad spy run amok like that.”

“You are nothing! Are you upset that Gibbs chose me over you?! He did it because you are worthless!” Ziva screeched while the Marines pulled her away.

“I’m sad that Gibbs fell so far down as to believe that you were anything but the vicious little Mossad puppet spy that you are,” Tony answered quietly, letting Vala intertwine her arm around his, content with the warmth of her body against his.

“You cannot arrest me!” Ziva pulled and pushed against the men with no results. “I am a federal agent with NCIS! Just call Vance! Gibbs will free me!”

“Delusional too,” Daniel commented. Mitchell and Samantha just nodded, humming their agreement. “You can’t become an agent without American citizenship and do you really think that after this you have any hope of getting it?”

“Vance and Gibbs will get their own wake-up calls, princess,” O’Neill snarked. “Davis, put Miss Mossad there on ice, this will be a political hot potato to solve but she doesn’t have anything that interests us,” he finished, watching the woman being taken away kicking and screaming.

“The Russians, though, we might as well interrogate them. They seemed mighty comfortable around here when they should be on a non-flight list,” The General continued. “Are you game to do it, DiNozzo? Or do we need to fast-forward our plans for your team?” He asked the investigator.

“I’m good with the interviews, General,” Tony answered professionally. “But I also have a couple of names that would be nice to bring aboard, if they pass all the checks.”

O’Neill nodded in agreement and gestured towards Colonel Davis.

“I’ll take care of it, sir. Just send me the names, Agent DiNozzo, and I’ll start the processes,” Davis stated and saluted before walking towards the motorcade waiting with their prisoners. “Your normal security team will drive you home, General,” he threw back sternly, without looking back to the SGC group.

“Uh, duh, there goes the moonlighting necking…” O’Neill murmured.

“Jack!” Sam exclaimed in a laughing tone.

“Time to go home, children,” The General smiled and waved towards the cars. There were already two men in the front seat of the SVU close by O’Neill and Carter.

Mitchell and Daniel were quick to sit in the front of the second car, leaving the backseat for Tony and Vala.

“See you Monday! Don’t worry about the guests! They could use some time to cool down,” O’Neill waved to the group and in a gentlemanly way helped Samantha enter the car, following her quickly.

The SVUs departed at the same time but in different directions.

*WADC*

The new week only brought headaches for NCIS Director Leon Vance. It started with a call from Eli David late Sunday because he couldn’t get hold of his daughter. Vance called Gibbs because his team should have been in downtime, but you never knew with that contrary man. The agent was nursing his second bottle of bourbon in his basement, by the likes of it, when they talked. Leon would never understand how Gibbs could drink like he did and still function like a semi-normal human being.

A call to Balboa, whose team was on call this weekend, confirmed that Ziva David wasn’t and hadn’t been in the office since Gibbs’ MCRT left Friday night.

Vance was at a loss as to what might be happening with the Mossad liaison and more and more disinclined to waste time on the issue. The idea of a bridge with Mossad was a good one, but Ziva David wasn’t the best option for it after all, especially after the whole Rivkin debacle. She was unravelling, pretty much like Jenny Shepard had, with this all-encompassing focus on revenge. Even considering the political nightmare, Vance was almost wishing the woman got herself arrested trying to trespass into wherever place she thought DiNozzo was. A felony accusation would squash her citizenship ploy and maybe Eli would take her back to Israel, leaving Vance free to deal with Gibbs and not worry about another rogue foreign agent running around the country.

The Director had barely sat down at his desk Monday morning when Gibbs invaded his office with his usual bull in a china shop style, leaving an upset Cynthia in the outer office, unable to stop the man’s advance. Vance waved her down, letting her know he understood it wasn’t her fault and he would deal with the grumpy Marine.

“Good morning, Gibbs,” Leon greeted.

“Where’s Ziva?” Gibbs demanded in an angry tone.

“I don’t know. Why should I know?” Vance deflected. He knew he would have to find out what happened to the Israeli, but he would prefer to do it without Gibbs breathing down his neck.

“You called me asking about her! What’s going on?”

Vance once more admired how the man could function and remember things with so much alcohol in his bloodstream. It made him better understand DiNozzo's desperation in the fight with Rivkin. The amount of alcohol on the Kidon agent’s blood would have dropped a normal man, but the agent caused a lot of damage before DiNozzo shot him down.

“Eli contacted me, and you were the only person I knew that might have an idea what Miss David does in her down time,” Vance went with the true and tried method of telling the truth without giving all the information.

Gibbs squinted, clearly suspicious. “Eli called you because he couldn’t reach Ziva? I thought they weren’t really talking anymore, since the whole Rivkin thing.”

Vance shrugged. “Who am I to understand their family relationship? Go back to the bullpen, Gibbs,” he tried to dismiss the man. “She’ll probably come at this normal time. You may let her know that Eli is looking for her but ask her to leave her personal problems out of the office, please.”

The agent glared at the director, clearly unsure about the situation, but ended up turning around and leaving the office at a clip.

Before Vance could sigh in relief, his secretary entered the office, and he knew it wouldn’t be good news and his week was probably shot to pieces already.

“Sir, Director Morrow left a message saying there’ll be an urgent meeting on MTAC at 0800 hours with SecDef, SecNav and the Secretary of State,” she said in a rush. “I think it has something to do with Officer David, sir,” she finished quietly, throwing a look at her back to make sure they were alone.

Vance looked at his watch and cursed when he saw he had less than five minutes to be in the meeting. He raised and did his best impersonation of a power walker towards the MTAC, fumbling a bit to go through the security protocol to open the door and enter. He noticed Cynthia intercepting Gibbs when he tried to climb the stairs and follow him into MTAC and was grateful for her initiative and forbearance in interacting with the aggressive agent. “I’ll ask Jackie about a gift for Cynthia, she sure deserves it,” he thought before paying attention to the screen where the other participants of the meeting were already present.

*WADC*

DiNozzo gave Troy Peterson a heads-up that he was putting the name of his probie, Maya Banks, for security clearance so she could come to work with him. He tried to explain the confusing structure of a NCIS RU under Homeland management but told the man not to worry too much. After all, both of them trusted Morrow way more than they did Vance.

The second name DiNozzo put forth was an FBI agent that he had met a few times and whom he knew wasn’t attached to any specific team. Archie Fulton was a high order geek, a white hat in the world of hacking that liked to solve all kinds of puzzles. He was a more analytical and maybe linear thinker than DiNozzo, but he believed they could work well together. Maya would be the glue, with her soft and friendly mien covering a spine of steel. Tony had great hopes for this team he was trying to build.

He spent the rest of the weekend with the SG1 team, except for Samantha Carter. The overall perception was that Jack and Sam were finally moving to resolve whatever blocks were in their relationship, with O’Neill moving farther away from the command chain. Daniel was happy that his friends might finally be able to have what they deserve. Mitchell secretly hoped that it meant that Carter would be out of SG1 and he wouldn’t feel so much of a usurper anymore for taking command of the team in her place. Vala was happy for what might be in her friend's future, but also worried about what it might mean for their team. She’d taken a long time to find a place where she felt comfortable, and somewhat appreciated and would prefer not to lose it.

DiNozzo jumped to interrogate the Russians first thing Monday morning, knowing that the more information they got from them, the easier whatever negotiation between State and Mossad would be in relation to Ziva David.

It became clear early on that Anatoli Kirkin and his henchmen didn’t know anything about Stargate Command or have any idea what they might get involved in when going after DiNozzo. The henchmen were exactly that, the normal muscle thugs from any criminal group and only went or did what they were told. Anatoly Kirkin really loved his cousin Michael Rivkin, who helped his business from time to time, so when Ziva David told him he was murdered by an American Federal Agent because he was jealous, he didn’t think twice about coming to extract revenge for his family.

By midday, the Russians were being dealt with by Homeland Security and FBI and Tony was okay with not being involved in whatever was going to happen to them.

Director Morrow asked him to come by his office before he went back to Colorado. General O’Neill and the whole SG1 decided they should be present for that conversation and Tony was glad they wanted to tag along.

“I didn’t think what putting DiNozzo in the middle of SG1 would do to my ulcer,” Morrow half joked when the six people filled his office.

“Don’t mix me up with this lot, Tom,” Jack joked back, finding a chair to sit while the rest looked for a comfortable spot for this conversation.

“You’re the original troublemaker, Jack,” Morrow retorted. “But I’m glad that these situations resolve themselves for the best most of the time.”

“And what was the best resolution of this situation, sir?” DiNozzo asked.

Tom Morrow observed how the agent and the alien Vala sat close together and admired how the SG1 team seemed already protective of the man.

“I would say Eli David was half relieved to have his daughter back under his thumb and half upset that he’s losing his little spy inside NCIS. I foresee him trying to offer a new person to be a liaison in place of Ziva,” Morrow responded and relaxed against his chair. “Vance was more resigned, I think,” his eyes moved, like he was remembering the facts. “At least he was aware enough to know that Gibbs didn’t have control over her after all.”

“And how did Gunny take it?” O’Neill asked, knowing that was the real issue for the younger man being adopted by his programme.

Morrow sighed. “With the expected tantrum. Davenport laid into him hard, calling out his military training. The sour face was epic,” he half joked. “Vance called support to deal with him. Ducky and Balboa,” Tom offered.

DiNozzo nodded. “Good idea. Gibbs respects Balboa and might listen to a suggestion from him. Ducky would be the best to try and soothe the bear.”

The Director agreed. “Vance knows that the man is on his last chance. People are really out of patience with the Gunny,” he shook his head. “I hope he really listens to Ducky and Balboa. He is a gifted investigator, but his actions are getting too costly for the results he delivers.”

The silence reigned for a moment in the office and DiNozzo squirmed, feeling guilty. Maybe if he hadn’t…

A playful slap on his shoulder shook him out of his dark thoughts.

“Don’t you dare to feel guilty!” Vala declared. “I, more than most, know and understand that the actions and decisions of others should not be carried as a guilt load for those around them. Their choices, their actions. You only have to take responsibility for your own choices and actions. Never theirs,” she finished with certainty and intensity.

“Listen to the woman, DiNozzo, she knows what she’s talking about,” O’Neill reiterated. The General knew that Vala would explain the whole Go’auld possession to the investigator when she was comfortable in doing so.

“We’ve all been there, feeling guilty for others’ actions because we believe we could have done something to help or change it,” Daniel said softly. “And we all understood, in the end, that we couldn’t,” he gestured. “We couldn’t change other people's choices and all we can do is learn and do our best. We will help you accept that,” Daniel concluded, approaching the other man and grabbing his shoulder in a friendly way.

“I suggest a nice jaunt through the gate to cure this whole despondent aura that’s getting too heavy around here,” Mitchell interjected.

“Yeah, nothing like an ambush and a firefight to raise everybody’s spirit,” Daniel snarked back.

DiNozzo was the first to laugh and the office was soon full of mirth.

“We do need to plan for your trip to Atlantis,” Morrow said. “What will SG1 be doing? Maybe they want to tag along?”

“I have a lot of projects in the mountain…” Sam glanced towards the general. “I would prefer only to go out if there’s no other choice.”

“Maybe I could go with T’ealc in his next check around and learn a bit more of the Jaffa warrior ways,” Mitchel suggested with a smirk.

“I would love to go to Atlantis!” Daniel exclaimed.

“I need to guarantee that Tony is kept in perfect physical form,” Vala smiled, raking her eyes over the man’s body. “So I would like to accompany him on this trip. There might be other naughty brunettes out there that I need to defend him from,” her grin was pure mischief.

“That’s settled then,” O’Neill slapped his thigh and stood up. “SG1 will go into downtime and their separate missions while Agent DiNozzo checks out Atlantis. I want you all back Earth-side after that,” he gestured towards the group. “You can deal with the training of the rest of DiNozzo’s team, right, Tom?” He asked.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. Colonel Davis is always helpful,” the older man agreed.

“So let’s go, kids!” The General motioned towards the door. “Lots to plan before you can beam back to the mountain and hitch a ride on the Prometheus. How does the saying go?” He slapped Tony’s shoulder playfully. “When a door closes, a gate opens.”

Director Tom Morrow watched the SGC group leave his office in between peals of laughter.

The End